1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical (including electronic) equipment, more particularly to electrical components, and still more particularly to NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association) and IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) electrical outlet connectors.
2. Background Discussion
Known types of AC electrical power output equipment, including power supplies, power distributors and power controllers, are configured for providing electrical power to external electrical equipment, such as computers, printers and disc drives. To accomplish this, the AC electrical power output equipment has installed in the equipment enclosures one or more AC electrical outlet connectors into which can be plugged external AC electrical equipment.
These electrical equipment AC outlet connectors are of two different configurations, depending upon the country in which the equipment is used or marketed for use. AC Electrical power output equipment to be used in the United States and such other countries as Canada, Mexico, South Korea, Taiwan, and Central and South American countries that have some links to the United States, require U.S.-type NEMA AC power outlet connectors. Otherwise identical AC electrical power equipment to be used in other countries, such as the European countries, including Germany and England, require the xe2x80x9cforeignxe2x80x9d-type IEC AC power outlet connectors.
Conveniently, from an equipment manufacturing perspective, the IEC and NEMA AC power outlet connectors are typically of the front mounting type and are preferably of the snap-in type.
Unfortunately, the designs of NEMA and IEC AC power outlet connectors were not coordinated and the two types of AC power outlet connectors have different body sizes, the NEMA power outlet connector body being smaller than the IEC power outlet connector body. Accordingly, the two types of power outlet connectors require two different sizes of enclosure cutouts into which the outlet connectors are received. Furthermore, the flat, electrical connector terminals of the NEMA power outlet connectors are more narrow than those of the IEC power outlet connectors so that NEMA wiring harnesses have to be different than IEC wiring harnesses.
As a result of these differences between NEMA and IEC power outlet connectors, AC electrical power output equipment manufacturers with worldwide sales are required to produce two alternative, but otherwise the same, AC power output equipment versions-one version having NEMA AC outlet connectors and associated enclosure cutouts and NEMA wiring harnesses for NEMA-country users and the other version having IEC AC output connectors and associated enclosure cutouts and IEC wiring harnesses for IEC-country users.
By way of illustrative examples of this situation, and as more particularly described below, FIG. 1 depicts a conventional IEC-country AC power controller having several IEC type C13 (250 VAC, 10 ampere) AC power outlet connectors (having a three pin receptacle arrangement) and FIG. 3 depicts a corresponding NEMA-country AC power controller having several NEMA type 5-15R (125 VAC, 15 ampere) AC power outlet connectors (having a three pin receptacle identical to those of common U.S. power company AC wall outlets.
The necessity of manufacturing two versions of each type of AC power output equipment sold worldwide requires the making and inventorying of two different equipment enclosuresxe2x80x94one with IEC power outlet connector cutouts and one with NEMA power outlet connector cutouts. In addition, because the IEC and NEMA power outlet connectors have wire connection terminals of different widths, two different wiring harnesses are required.
The result is that two different equipment enclosures and two different wiring harnesses have been required to be made and inventoried in order to manufacture IEC and NEMA versions of the same AC power output equipment, even though the equipment configuration, including components and printed circuit cards, controls and functional operation of both versions are otherwise identical.
This need for alternative equipment enclosures and wiring harnesses significantly increases the cost of the electrical power equipment for the worldwide market and puts relatively moderate-volume equipment manufacturers at a competitive disadvantage as compared to large-volume manufacturers.
A principal objective of the present invention is therefore to provide NEMA-style AC power outlet connectors that are the same size as corresponding IEC AC power outlet connectors and have the same terminal size as those of the corresponding C13 connectors so that the same equipment enclosures and wiring harnesses can be used for both IEC and NEMA versions of the same AC power output equipment.
In accordance with the present invention there is provided a new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector comprising a body portion and a shoulder portion, said body portion being configured for fitting into a standard cutout for a conventional IEC AC power outlet connector.
The IEC AC power outlet connector may be an IEC C13 AC power outlet connector having a standard cutout that is rectangular in shape with a height of about 1.28 inches and a width of about 0.98 inch, the shoulder portion having a height of about 1.375 inches and a width of about 1.0625 inches, and the body portion including at least one opposing pair of elastic spring clips for retaining the new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector snapped into the standard cutout. In which case, the new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector is selected from the group consisting of NEMA 5-15R, 125 VAC, 15 amperes; NEMA 6-15R, 250 VAC, 15 amperes; NEMA 5-20R, 125 VAC, 20 amperes; and NEMA 6-20R, 250 VAC, 20 amperes, AC power outlet connectors.
Alternatively, the IEC AC power outlet connector is an IEC C19, 250 VAC, 16 ampere, AC power outlet connector for which the standard cutout is rectangular in shape, having a height of about 1.180 inches and a width of about 1.496 inches, the shoulder portion having a height of about 1.339 inches and a width of about 2.165 inches and includes a pair of screw mounting holes spaced apart a distance equal to 1.772 inches. Accordingly, the new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector is selected from the group consisting of NEMA 5-20R, 125 VAC, 20 amperes; and NEMA 6-20R, 250 VAC, 20 amperes, AC power outlet connectors.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector comprises a body portion and a shoulder portion, the body portion being configured for snapping into a standard cutout for a conventional IEC C13, 250 VAC, 10 ampere, AC power outlet connector, the standard cutout being rectangular in shape and having a height of about 1.28 inches and a width of about 0.98 inch, the shoulder portion having a height of about 1.375 inches and a width of about 1.0625 inches. Preferably, the body portion includes at least one opposing pair of elastic spring clips for retaining the new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector in the standard cutout and also includes three flat wiring connection terminals extending from the body portion, each of the flat terminals having a width of 0.25 inch. Alternatively, the body portion includes three pin wiring connection terminals extending from the body portion for enabling said new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector to be mounted to a printed circuit card, each of the pin terminals having a diameter of about 0.06 inch.
The new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector may be configured as a new NEMA 5-15R, 125 VAC, 15 ampere, AC power outlet connector; as a new NEMA 6-15R, 250 VAC, 15 ampere, AC power outlet connector; as a new NEMA 5-20R, 125 VAC, 20 ampere, AC power outlet connector; or as a new NEMA 6-20R, 250 VAC, 20 ampere, AC power outlet connector.
In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector comprising a body portion and a shoulder portion, the body portion being configured for fitting into a standard cutout for a conventional IEC C19, 250 VAC, 16 ampere, AC power outlet connector, the standard cutout being rectangular in shape and having a height of about 1.180 inches and a width of about 1.490 inches, said shoulder portion having a height of about 1.339 inches and a width of about 2.165 inches and includes a pair of screw mounting holes spaced apart a distance equal to 1.772 inches.
The new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector may be configured as a new NEMA 5-20R, 125 VAC, 20 ampere, AC power outlet connector or as a new NEMA 6-20R, 250 VAC, 20 ampere, AC power outlet connector, and may be configured in size and shape to the IEC C19 AC power outlet connector or may be sized and shaped to snap fit into the IEC C19 mounting cutout.
In accordance with another embodiment of the present invention, a new NEMA AC power outlet connector module is formed from n new NEMA AC power outlet connectors, the new NEMA AC power outlet connector module having a composite body portion configured for fitting into a standard cutout for a corresponding IEC AC power outlet connector module formed from n IEC AC power outlet connectors. Preferably the number n is equal to 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6.
Also preferably, the IEC AC power outlet connector module is formed from n IEC C13 AC power outlet connectors, and the new NEMA-style AC power outlet connectors for the new NEMA-style AC power outlet connector module are selected from the group consisting of NEMA 5-15R, 125 VAC, 15 amperes; NEMA 6-15R, 250 VAC, 15 amperes; NEMA 5-20R, 125 VAC, 20 amperes; and NEMA 6-20R, 250 VAC, 20 amperes, AC power outlet connectors.